If this is your first time hearing about cryptocurrency, just know that it is basically digital money. More like money you can spend on anything, yet not physical or tangible like your normal currency.

“I do think bitcoin is the first [encrypted money] that has the potential to do something like change the world.” – Peter Thiel

Before I go on any further, let me emphatically state that this article is not about Bitcoin alone though Bitcoin will be the main point of reference since it’s that one aspect of blockchain that’s becoming more predominant.

The first time I heard about Bitcoin was when I joined a multilevel marketing team in the university about 4 years ago. The technology sounded like a ‘scam’ so I brushed it off. I heard less of it until last year when it became ubiquitous. Curiosity led me to read bits of information concerning it but I still wasn’t convinced enough. Then 6 months ago, I had a strong conviction and began reading about blockchain voraciously. Today, I have a blockchain wallet and have invested in cryptocurrency. I am living the crypto life.

Now, let me go ahead and share with you my findings. You might want to grab a cup of tea or a bottle of your favorite drink and enjoy this with me.

Blockchain as a topic is often discussed yet rarely understood. What if I told you that, blockchain technology is the new internet? Sounds simple? Truth is, blockchain is not different from every other thing you’re conversant with, more especially the internet. Just like how 40 years ago, the internet changed the way we interact on a daily basis, transact business, govern, and even report news, so will blockchain technology in the coming years, change our conceptual understanding of trust, trade, and ownership.

Let me explain

Trust

Reports affirm that every year, there’s a total trading of about $100 trillion among the total of 7 billion people on planet earth. Now imagine we stop trusting all companies, or even the government, businesses will be kaput. Trust is the basis of commerce in this age. Our current state of trading which is largely e-commerce (thanks to the internet), leaves us with no option but to trust one another when handling transactions. Thus, it’s more of a ‘trust, but verify’ system. In trading, there’s a need to keep records of the trade/transaction for future reference in what is called a ledger. The piece of information in the ledger is usually kept a secret from the public and entrusted to trust-worthy parties. These third party trustees could be government, banks, agencies, or even a personal accountant.

Blockchain technology ensures trust

Blockchain, however, is changing that. The technology that facilitates cryptocurrencies enables a network of computers to maintain a connected bookkeeping via the internet. No one party is in control of this system, rather, it is open to the public in one digital ledger which is fully distributed across the network. The distribution of this network is what we call the blockchain. Every record that is written on a blockchain ledger has a unique key attached to it and this key is not hackable. Let me make it more practical. You write a letter, stamp it with your unique signature, and keep it in a safe room where other letters are kept. You are the only trusted party to that letter. Now this continues for every single record you’ll write after the first record, and a key is generated for the second record as well. This means that each record is dependent on the first record written. So if you write a long list of ten records which probably contains a trade record of real estate, insurance, or whatever, there’s a chaining of these records due to the interdependency of the record. Blockchain ledgers are immutable. This is how blockchain is bridging the trust gap.

Whereas with ledgers, a third party can delete a record without the other party’s knowledge, blockchain virtually makes that impossible since there is a verification process thus if there is an attempt, the interconnected system will not arrive at a consensus.

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Trade

The next wave of trade will be that which allows you to check the trade transactions of whatever product you want to buy with your blockchain app simply by scanning the barcode on the product. You can then go ahead and make payment with your cryptocurrency be it bitcoin, ethereum, or any other as preferred, anywhere in the world with no restrictions on currency.

Ownership

Using bitcoin as a classic example of cryptocurrency, users can decide what a unit of bitcoin represents. It could be property, or anything else of value. 1 bitcoin is divisible in 100,000,000 units and each unit is individually both identifiable and programmable which allows users to make allocations of properties to each unit. You can program your unit to represent a dollar or even a company share. It is more than just money and payment.

Why it will make you a Billionaire

I’m pretty sure you were waiting for this part of the story. Consider this; if you bought $100 of bitcoin seven years ago, you’ll be worth more than $80million now. Yes! And it has been used to pay for many significant transactions worldwide. It is easier to move your bitcoin around anywhere in the world than carry a bag of gold. The convenience that comes with it also makes people want to get involved. Notable bitcoin investors are billionaire Richard Branson, who is a strong advocate of cryptocurrency. Indeed, there is a wave and those who miss it will be left ashore.

One of the reasons why bitcoin is flying at an all-time high now is because, many investors are becoming increasingly familiar with the digital currency. They are accepting that it’s the future, that the future is not tomorrow, the future is here.

In September 2017, there were reports that Japan is planning on launching its own cryptocurrency which will be powered by the government. The success of cryptocurrencies over the years have been reliant on China and Japan, largely. Now, Japan is getting a hold of it. The cryptocurrency is just another bubble, just like the internet was considered a bubble, but past events have trained us to be prophets of the future. And we’re saying, that 20 years from now, all transactions in the world will be traded with digital currencies. Believe it or not.

If you’ve been convinced and you want to invest in some cryptocurrencies, contact me: